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Re: [RC] Pasture Arrangements with Mares/Geldings - rdcarrie>>>>So, my question is: What do you do about mixing geldings and mares? thanks Keith<<<<< We run 6 geldings (4 Arab, 2 Paso Fino) and 2 mares (1 Arab, 1 Paso) together on 10 acres. We've never had any trouble. The alpha horse in the herd is my 20 yr old Arab gelding. Second in rank is my 12 yr old Arab mare. The horses in our herd range in age from 4 to 31 years old. There are the usual squabbles and chasing, but everyone knows their place and we haven't had any injuries. The three younger geldings (4 yr old Paso and 5 and 7 yr old Arabs) have formed a buddy band and play together a lot. The Arab mare is a real hussy when in season, but we haven't had any problems with the boys.
Dawn in East Texas
-----Original Message----- From: Equus Wolf <equuswolf@xxxxxxxxx> To: ridecamp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Sent: Tue, 28 Feb 2006 20:59:25 -0800 (PST) Subject: [RC] Pasture Arrangements with Mares/Geldings >>>>So, my question is:
What do you do about mixing geldings and mares? thanks Keith<<<<< When I was younger, I had my horse at a farm where mares and geldings were kept together. I never saw it as a problem *if* the horses were a good match in personalities. However, my mare hooked up with a gelding and it would take us hours to catch them (never had catching problems until that.) The gelding was moved to another pasture and problem solved immediately. I also remember another mixed pasture that frequently had injured horses from kicks/bites because the geldings didn't "get the drift" when the mares were in heat and got too close (even if it was innocent.)
Since then, I have been at stables that keep mares and geldings separated. Herd dynamics just seem to work better. It prevents the mare/gelding forgot he was a gelding issue. We also keep the pastures rotated in such a way that the mares and geldings never share a fence line. No broken fences yet. And that's a first of anywhere I've been.
I think it just depends on the types of horses you have (personality wise). Both of my mares would be find with geldings that knew they were geldings. I know mares that would tear a gelding up if he even thought of entering her "space" *laugh*
Sounds almost like a playground at school!
Jennifer
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